Summer Adventures in Spokane: Bloomsday

Despite my threats to leave Spokane in the midst of winter, Spokane is a pretty cool place to be in the summer. I’m not even really sure whom these threats are directed to - the city of Spokane? my tiny car? my collection of winter coats? innocent bystanders? Since I have not made good on these threats any of the past 8 winters, I think it’s safe to say they are pretty empty promises. This is because when winter ends, summer is right around the corner and summer is so good, I forget about my threats of moving back to California where it is warm all the time.

Now that I have weekends off, I have decided it’s time to make the most of being in Spokane during the summer. I fully intend to try to make it to every event the area has to offer me. So if you know of any that I’m missing, let me know! Or better yet, invite me to come along with you!

Bloomsday is a big race held every year in Spokane - it’s kind of a big deal. Every year, I slightly entertain the idea of participating and then I forget about it until I’ve missed the deadline to enter. This year was no different. But Kevin ran it, so I went downtown with Serena and Lily to drop Kevin off and then hang out for a little while.

I’ve never even been down there during the event, so it was really fun to be around the atmosphere. Serena, Lily and I went to the finish line to watch the elite runners finish. It was surprising how little people were watching with us, but it was amazing to see some of the world’s best runners in person.

Then we went down to Riverfront Park to walk around all the vendors and such. We found a mini-donut stand and what better way to celebrate other people being physically active then eating unhealthy snacks! While standing in line, I ran into one of my friends’ parents from the west side (the Beauchamps) and got a chance to catch up with them.

Overall, it was great to at least get to see what happens during Bloomsday. Next year the goal is to actually participate (preferably in some sort of ridiculous costume) and throw a sweatshirt on to a tree.

Some upcoming events I plan on participating in:

1. ArtFest is next weekend in Browne’s Addition, anyone want to go?

2. There is a Combine Derby in Lind on June 11th. My former roommate, Laura, invited me. I believe her exact words were something like: “I was trying to think of someone who would do random crap with me. Like who would drive two hours to see a combine derby with me? Alissa!” I almost cut her off because I was already enthusiastically raising my hand (even though it was a phone conversation) and saying, “I’m in, I’m in!” I’m so predictable.

Adage #5: Democracy wins...sometimes.

When I was 10, I made the decision that our family needed to vote for a president. I'm guessing this idea came from a combination of learning about the government at school along with being the first born (which gives me a natural desire to control others and be bossy, of course).

Someone needed to run family meetings and I was perfect for the job; although, the Adams family president would really just be a pawn of the monarchy (mom and dad). In my 10-year-old power-hunger mind, this is how I would really get to control my younger sister and make her do everything I wanted her to do. Being the "family president" would be the unbeatable trump card and she would be forced to give in.

They were excellent parents, so they sniffed out my ulterior motives for this vote. My dad felt bad for my sister (who wouldn't?, I was a dictator) and voted for her, hoping my mom had voted for me, resulting in a tie and everyone could just walk away, no feelings hurt.

Not the way it worked out. My sister won because my mom had thought the very same thing. In defeat, I saw all my power melting away. Now I would have to be the one to give in to my younger sibling's every whim. So I stormed off and never spoke of a family vote again.

Moral of the story: If any of your children ever suggest voting for a family president, suggest everyone go for ice cream instead.

Adage #4: You can catch more bees with honey, but you need newspaper to get a wasp.

I am terrified of bees. I have never been stung by one and I will avoid this event from occurring in my life at all costs. I am that crazy person who flails all over the place while trying to get away from this winged creature with a stinger (which is a privilege I don’t think they should have). I flinch at any buzzing sound that could possibly be a bee, I get up from any table I’m sitting at outside and run inside, I squeal and sometimes I duck my head and just hope it will go away.

The other morning I woke up and was going through my usual morning routine. As I was walking into my bathroom, I noticed a shadow on my shower curtain. It slowly dawned on me that this was a wasp. This was a big problem, how was I going to shower before work? I thought maybe I could grab my shampoo and body wash and take my shower in the downstairs bathroom. But then I would still have to move the shower curtain to obtain these items and surely the wasp would not like to be disturbed and he would come after me. I thought maybe I could try and get rid of him, but I would probably miss and then he would get mad at me and sting me in the eyeball multiple times, blinding me forever.

In every scenario I could come up with, I ended up getting stung. I thought that would be a terrible way to start the day, so I just didn’t shower.

I came home later on in hopes that the insect had found his way out. Nope, he sure hadn’t. “This is it,” I thought, “I’m never going to be able to shower again.” After a few minutes of deliberation, I knew I had to get rid of him because it wouldn’t take long for people to notice a smell when I walked past them. So I got someone else to get rid of the wasp for me (thanks Serena).

I’ve never been much of a risk taker. It’s okay to be cautious, it’s kept me alive so far, so that’s a positive. But what am I limiting myself from doing by being so afraid to take a risk? I was prepared to let that wasp take over my bathroom and start a colony if he wanted to because I was too afraid of him. What else in my life have I given up on because it seemed impossible to accomplish?

Philippians 4:13 “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

Adage #3: Take an art class.

When I was home at Christmas, my family played a game that was kind of a cross of Pictionary and Apples-to-Apples. You pick a card and everyone draws what the card says like "vacation" or "rabbit". After everyone has drawn their picture you pick another card that says something like "prettiest" or "most likely to be mistaken for real art" and everyone votes on who's drawing best fits that phrase (without knowing which drawing belongs to who). Here are some of the highlights, let me warn you, we're not a super artistic family.

Breakfast in bed.

This is the scariest looking baby I have ever seen.

We were supposed to draw "school". I'm not sure how well you can see this, but 3 of these look pretty normally, but take a closer look at the 3rd picture - my sister drew this (the only one in school right now).

"Chickens crossing the road":
1. The picture on top is mine, the one on the bottom is my mom's, can you guess who I learned to draw from?
2. Somehow I also learned from my mom that when drawing chickens, they have 4 legs instead of 2.

Which do you think it is?

The Adams family interprets "horse".

I am offended.

If this won for Art Teacher's Pet, you can only imagine how beautiful the rest of our drawings were.